Were the World Mine
by Enaid Mora
Summary: While practcing his lines for A Midsummer's Night Dream, student Magnus Bane discovers Cupid's Love Potion and decides to take the matters of love into his own hands. Based off of the movie Were the World Mine. AU. Malec
1. The Curtain Rises

**AN: Hi! I'm sorry but I am taking a break from my seires of oneshots and adventuring into the unknown by creating a chapterfic! It is loosely based off of the brilliant movie Were the World Mine and thus William Shakespeare's A Mightsummer's Night Dream. I have no idea what the length will be and have no beta. I don't quite get how betas work but I would like one because I think it will help me a lot. If anyone has an interest please let me know. I make no promises to update regularly but I have a feeling I would be too naughty in skipping updates. Please review and let me know what you think. I promise I will try really hard to make sure our favorites stay in character but this is a total AU. It will take place in high school and will have some fantasy elements to it due to the fact it is based off of Were the World Mine.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments, Were the World Mine, A Midsummer's Night Dream, or anything else. I am not making money off of this and am only doing this for entertainment. If you recognize a quote or line then it is not mine and I lay no claim upon it. **

**This story is dedicated to two lovely souls: my soul mate and my good friend Hunter. Love you both to pieces!**

"I see their knavery; this is to make an ass of me."

Ragnor snorted. "Always with the melodrama, Magnus."

Magnus threw a sparkly rainbow pillow at his best friend who was currently going through magazines on the floor of his room. "Shakespeare is not melodramatic."

"Says the drama queen."

Magnus rolled over onto his stomach. "You are just jealous because I am more of a queen than you can ever be."

Ragnor looked up from the magazine in his hand. "Am I that transparent? I want you, I need you, oh baby oh baby," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't be a drag, just be a queen!" Magnus proclaimed.

"I'm not the one who is all doom and gloom over a tiny unrequited crush."

Magnus glared. "You think you are so clever. Yes, I am may be a tad bit-"

"A tad bit? You haven't worn any glitter for weeks and I can't recall the last time you wore a bright color."

Magnus's eyes narrowed further. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-" Ragnor snorted earning himself another pillow to the face. "I am a tad bit down due to the unrequited nature of my feelings. But at least I can't recall the last time I was shoved into lockers."

"Magnus, you have become the king of emo ever since you have laid eyes of that Adonis of a boy."

Magnus smiled dreamily. "He is an Adonis, isn't he? I mean his hair…and those eyes…and that delicious blush…"

Ragnor made a face and hit Magnus with a rainbow pillow. "He may be your walking wet dream but he is a stick in the mud and a straight one at that."

"Well if he is a stick in the mud, then I want to be a giant puddle of mud."

"Don't even try. The soccer team will beat your ass black and blue but not in the way you would enjoy."

Magnus looked offended. "You think I'm that kinky? You asshat!"

Ragnor smirked and then looked serious. "In all seriousness though, they would kill you or at least do more than mutter queer whenever you walk by."

"I'm not afraid of them."

"You should be. They may be selfish assholes but they have muscles and the means to make you hurt. He is not worth it."

"He is totally worth it! I don't care what those assholes do!" Magnus protest vehemently.

"Yeah but I doubt you will feel the same next time you come home with a black eye. Trust me, just let him be the object of your desires but a distant object. Like Pluto."

Magnus raised his eyebrow and he sat up. "Like Pluto?"

Ragnor nodded, pretending to be fully engrossed in his magazine. "Yes, like Pluto. Distant, cute, amazing."

"Your metaphors suck."

"And that is why I am failing English. Now tell me, what do you think about this color?" Ragnor showed Magnus a picture of a girl in a pink dress.

"It is a lovely dress but honey, I'm just afraid it is not you."

Ragnor glared. "Go screw yourself! I meant for curtains. I'm redoing my room this weekend and you are going to help me design it."

"You can't seriously tell me you want to redo your room in pink."

Ragnor frowned and looked at the magazine again. "What is wrong with pink?"

"Pink is so not you. I would suggest purple and blue."

"Isn't that a bit overdone?"

"Light blue, dark purple."

Magnus stood up and grabbed two of his shirts from his closet, one light blue the other dark purple.

"Alright, Magnus. I concede. You have much better taste than I."

Magnus smirked and sat down again. "Yes. That is why I refuse to audition for that silly play."

Ragnor looked up sharply. "You are not auditioning? Why the hell not?"

"The entire soccer team is being forced to have roles because they are all lacking fine arts credits and the drama teacher is willing to count this play as a fine arts credit."

"Two minutes ago you were ranting about your love for a certain soccer player and now you refuse to embrace your inner-thespian? I will never understand you."

"That is why we don't date." Ragnor smacked Magnus's head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"You were being a smart ass. But it is your favorite Shakespeare play! You have to audition."

Magnus sighed. "I'll think about it."

Ragnor just rolled his eyes and continued pouring over the magazines, not noticing Magnus's far off expression. He was thinking about the play, _A Midsummer's Night Dream_. He had always loved that play. The idea of a magic flower that had the power to make anyone fall in love with anyone was very enticing. And he had always indentified himself with Puck. "Maybe I will audition," he muttered to himself more that to Ragnor.

_If only that flower was real. If only the world were mine._


	2. And The Stage Is Set

**AN: Hello there again! I know that I just started this story today but I am so excited I decided to upload this chapter too. The story hasn't even really begun and I would love to find someone to be my beta or something similar. All I want is that you know the Mortal Instruments and have seen Were the World Mine or at least have some vague idea of what it is about. **

**Thank you for the review and favorite and story alerts! I feel honored to have them so quickly. This chapter is just setting the stage. The real plot starts advancing way more in chapter 3 which is at least half-way written. Most of the story is going to be Magnus POV. This is one of my rare Alec POV chapters. I have great plans for this story and I would love to know what you think. I don't want to go too far out of characer or anything. Reviews=love=more chapters=faster updates=happy author=better characters! :) Any critique is welcome! And let me know what you want me to do: Update when I finish a chapter or wait until I have some more chapters written and update on a schedule. This is my first chapterfic! And sorry for the long Author's Notes. I just need a little help starting this thing off. **

**Please review and let me know! I love you guys already~**

**Disclaimer: You recognize it? Not mine!**

Alexander Lightwood groaned as his alarm went off. Cassandra Clare Hill Academy may be the most prestigious school in the nation but it started way too early in the morning. He hit the snooze button, realizing he was potentially giving up his showering rights for the morning. Living with a sister just a year younger than him and an adopted brother of the same age meant getting the bathroom in the morning was a difficult if not sometimes impossible task.

Two minutes into his doze he heard his sister's good morning shriek. "JACE! YOU BETTER NOT BE IN THE BATHROOM!"

"Why good morning to you too Isabelle. Could you possibly tone down the shrillness a bit? I understand it may be hard to understand but-"

"SHRILL? MY VOICE IS NOT SHRILL! NOT GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!"

"I was awake first. I got here first. Thus it is mine. Now get thee gone woman and do something useful. Like make breakfast."

"OH YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS JACE LIGHTWOOD!"

Alec groaned, realizing he would get no more sleep this morning. He sat up in his bed and stretched. His muscles were sore from the intense soccer practice he had the night before. The team was in the running for the state championship so their crazy coach was drilling them more than ever.

He got out of bed and then proceeded to his closet to find his school uniform. He pulled out the black jacket, the freshly pressed pants, his white dress shirt and the red striped tie and started to get dressed.

"Hey, Alec, I need help with my tie," Jace said from the doorway, his shirt half unbuttoned and his hair a mess.

"We've been going to this school for over two years and you still can't tie your tie?" Alec asked, buttoning up his own shirt.

"Hey, it's harder than it looks!" Jace protested as he attempted to tie the tie again.

"Isabelle can manage and she has crazy manicured nails."

Jace pouted and made eye contact with Alec via the mirror hanging on the wall. "I thought you liked me better."

Alec snorted. "You only speak in three ways: sarcasm, flirt, and asshole. None of those makes you pleasant for me to interact with."

Jace smirked and shrugged. "It's who I am. Now come help me with this."

Alec's eyebrows rose. "Impatient. I'm going to tie my own first and then help you with yours. In the meantime you might want to do something with your hair."

Jace scowled. "I like my hair this way. It makes me look like a bad boy."

Alec heard Isabelle snort in the hallway. "No. It just makes you look cheap," she sassed.

"No matter how hard I try you still always manage to look cheaper than me," Jace replied with a smile painted across his face.

"You are such an asshole!" Isabelle shrieked before slamming the bathroom door.

Alec rolled his eyes at his siblings' antics and expertly tied his tie. He was the quiet one of the family. He was the oldest and was expected to look out for his two younger siblings while his parents were abroad with the youngest Lightwood sibling, Max. As much as he loved his siblings and his parents, he hated the expectations they had of him. He was supposed to be MVP of the soccer team since it was his senior year and earn a scholarship to a prestigious east coast university where he would meet some nice girl and settle down to get married and have kids. Then when he was old enough, he would join the family business and continue the Lightwood legacy. For some reason this future didn't sit right with him. He wanted his own path and wanted to be whoever he wanted to be. He wanted to embrace his inner self, the quiet artsy one that dutifully sat silent while he socialized with all the meat-brained jocks.

He sighed and grabbed his messenger bag, socks, and shoes before heading out the door of his bedroom. He quickly went down the stairs and put his bag on a dining room chair in their house's immaculate dining room. Everything was orderly and white. His mother said without order there is no success and success was all that mattered to Mayrse Lightwood. That and living up to the family name.

Alec pulled on his socks and shoes. It was easy having a uniform for it was something you could wear every single day without thought. It meant he could blend in with all the other boys at Cassandra Clare Hill.

"Why does this stupid school make us wear uniforms?" Isabelle said with distaste as she walked down the stairs, pulling at the hem of her black skirt.

"What's wrong with uniforms?" Alec asked as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and a water for breakfast.

"It makes everyone look like everyone else."

"What's wrong with blending in?" Alec asked as he put all of his school books in his backpack.

"Says the star soccer player," Isabelle responded as she applied eyeliner, using the hall mirror.

"Why are you doing your make-up downstairs?" Alec inquired.

"I was just got out of the shower and Jace shows up and tells me I have five minutes until he is coming in to do his hair. That boy is so vain."

Jace walked down the stairs. "Why do I get the feeling she is talking about me?" he asked as he went in the kitchen to get a coffee and a doughnut.

"You're so vain you think everyone who says 'vain' is automatically talking about you," Isabelle retorted as she started to apply her mascara.

Jace snorted. "I'd be offended if it wasn't true." He took a big bite of his doughnut and walked up to Alec and gestured to his tie. Alec rolled his eyes and proceeded to start to tie it.

"Jace, just because you think you are God's gift to women doesn't mean that you are."

"Ouch. Your words sting my soul," Jace replied sarcastically.

Isabelle put her make up into her purse and turned around to face her brothers. "You take more time to get ready than me and I'm a _girl_."

"Hey at least I'm not queer," Jace replied. Alec jerked the knot of his tie up sharply, momentarily choking Jace. "Hey, Alec, watch it. I need to breathe in order to talk."

"The world would be a much better place if you never talked again," Isabelle said as she put on her backpack.

Jace smirked, "But it would be cruel to deprive the world of my wit and my charm."

"Cruel? It would be more like a gift to the world. Your ego is so large I'm surprised you can fit into this room," Isabelle replied, gesturing to the great expanse of the dining area.

Alec rolled his eyes for the millionth time that morning. "Will you two please stop your bickering and proceed to the car? We are going to be late."

"It's his fault!" Isabelle yelled as she ran out of the front door.

"That is so not true! You took a long shower!" Jace screamed back as he followed Izzy out of the door. Alec followed Jace out and locked the door wondering what he had done to deserve such crazy siblings.

Twenty minutes later and they were at school. Alec, surprised that they weren't late, quickly walked to his locker so he could put his heavy books away. The only two classes he liked were gym and English although he would never admit to liking the latter. It was taught by a crazy red haired teacher who was also in charge of the drama department. He secretly loved Shakespeare and knew that if he admitted it his team would think he was a "fairy".

He sighed as he shut his locker. The town was close-minded and homophobic and it irritated him to no end. He wasn't quite sure why it did but he had the nagging feeling it had something to do with the tall quiet kid in the back of his English class. He was the only openly gay student at CCHA and because of that he was tormented day in and day out. Alec couldn't understand how that boy could put up with it, especially due to the homophobic P.E. teacher/coach Mr. Starkweather. Starkweather basically encouraged his team to pick on the quiet boy.

Alec was drawn out of his musings by the sound of the bell. He closed his locker and walked into the locker rooms to dress down for P.E. He wondered what they were going to play today. As he was undoing his shirt he heard the door open and in walked the boy from his English class. He has his messenger bad slung on his shoulder and it was covered with bright colored pins and stickers. The boy briefly made eye contact with Alec before turning to his P.E. locker.

Alec turned back to his own locker when the other students started trickling in. The coach walked in a few minutes later with a sadistic grin on his face. "Listen up, ladies. Today we are playing dodge ball. No exceptions."

Alec could basically feel the quiet boy's distress. Today was certainly going to be interesting.

**And the plot thickens...**

**Preview: " Do you want some ice?" asked a quiet voice behind him.**


	3. And The Lights Are Up

**AN: Hello! So I decided to upload this with no other finished chapters. Le gasp! I just felt like you guys deserve a little love! I am working on chapter 4 and it should be up within the next two weeks. I'm going with the update as I finish policy which means irregular updates. Let me know if you guys want me to do something else. I aim to please.**

**I want to thank Bookworm24601, -tayl0r, .hope, DisturbingEmily, and mysteryssister for your reviews! :) Reviews are the things that inspire me and keep me going. I dedicate this chapter to your guys! I love you! And I also want to thank everyone who alerted and added me to their favorites. This is my first chapterfic so I'm super nervous about it. I still want something or someone resembling a beta. Let me know if you are interested. :) **

**There are going to be a lot of homophobic remarks. Why? Because Magnus goes to a school full of jerks! (thus making Alec all the sweeter) Oh and there is a fantasy interlude thingy. It makes sense if you've seen the movie. Let me know what you think of it!**

**Disclaimer: Recognize it? Not mine! :(**

Magnus could literally feel his stomach drop. They were playing dodge ball. He hated that stupid game. It was violent and an excuse for the homophobic jocks to chuck things at him. He groaned as they filed out of the locker room and counted off to be separated into different teams.

Magnus stared at the other boys as they got the balls out of the storage closet and began to playfully toss them at each other. The sounds of squeaking tennis shoes and bouncing rubber balls soon filled the school gym.

"Come on boys! That's pathetic! I want to see sweat!"

Mr. Starkweather looked at Magnus as he slowly walked over to his side. "Are you gonna play?"

Simon, the boy standing next to him, pointed out the obvious. "Uh, Magnus needs a ball."

Sebastian laughed from across the room. "He needs my balls."

Alec threw a spare ball that was by his feet to Magnus who easily caught it. "You wish!" Magnus responded back causing all the other boys in the gym to laugh. Sebastian looked angry and somewhat confused by the snappy comeback. Magnus smiled on the inside.

"Ready?" Mr. Starkweather barked, calling attention back to the impending dodge ball game.

"Ready, sir," replied all of the boys except Magnus as they crouched down to play.

"Ready, fancy feet?" Starkweather called to Magnus, startling him out of his reprieve. Magnus was looking out the windows, wishing he was anywhere but in the smelly gym with a bunch of homophobic guys. The other boys laughed at the coach's comment and the coach grinned and then blew the whistle.

The students leapt into action, chucking red rubber balls at each other with glee. Jace threw his directly at Sebastian who ducked out of the way. Alec wove in between the others and hit a boy named Simon in the chest. Simon cursed and walked off to the sidelines. Meliorn caught the ball Raphael threw and smirked, waving Simon back into the fray. Simon grinned and chucked his at Jace who skillfully ducked out of the way. Magnus dodged a few of the balls and threw his at Sebastian's head. It went wide and Sebastian smirked before taking aim at Magnus and throwing the ball.

Time seemed to slow as the ball went towards Magnus's face. It almost seemed to stop for a moment before hitting the boy in the eye. Magnus hissed in pain before covering it with his hand. Sebastian laughed and received a high five from Meliorn.

"Excellent hit!" Mr. Starkweather cried. "Showers!"

All of the boys on the sidelines quickly scrambled to their feet and headed back into the locker rooms. A few boys clapped Sebastian on the back as they left the gym. Magnus still held his hand to his eye because of the pain. It was for sure going to bruise. Magnus almost laughed to himself, thinking about Ragnor's comment. He was going to get another black eye. The entire side of his head hurt from the ball's impact. He slowly made his way into the locker rooms, cursing the teacher and Sebastian as he did. Whenever he played sports he ended up injured and every single time he was certain that it was intentional. He made sure to take his time to get to the locker rooms. He did not want to relive the one time he was in there with all the other boys showering. It took two months for the insults to die down to the point where Magnus did not feel like crying every day. He still remembered how long it took to scrub the word "homo" off of his locker.

As he entered the locker room, he heard the other boys talking and the last of the showers shut off.

"Hey, we're gonna be late for the Shakes-queer crap," Meliorn said as he tossed his used towel across the room.

"That stuff is like four hundred years old. Nobody can understand it," Sebastian replied while toweling off his blonde hair.

"Only people with a brain can," Raphael retorted, putting on his shirt. "All I know is soccer," Raphael continued, in a mocking and stupid sounding voice.

"Yeah! Give it up for soccer!" Sebastian said while he quickly got dressed.

Magnus rounded the corner at that point and wove in between the boys to get to his locker. If he showered quickly and got dressed in record time there was a small chance he would not be late for English.

"I'm so proud of you Maggie," Meliorn said as Magnus opened his lock.

"My name's Magnus," he responded.

"My name's Magnus," taunted Sebastian in a clichéd gay voice. Meliorn and Sebastian laughed before leaving the locker room.

Magnus groaned and sat down on the bench between the lockers, putting his head in his hands. His head was pounding and he had to be assaulted by the taunts of assholes.

"Do you want some ice?" asked a quiet voice behind him. Magnus turned around and made eye contact with Alexander Lightwood. The same blue-eyed god who filled most of his waking thoughts and made an appearance in more dreams than Magnus would care to admit.

"I'm fine," Magnus said, his voice colored with his irritation. He was tired, frustrated, in pain, and definitely not in the mood for any pity.

Alec looked like he didn't believe him but said, "Alright." He finished putting on his shirt and grabbed his backpack and left.

Magnus sighed again. Of course the object of his desires was nice to him after one of his team members nailed him in the face with a dodge ball. He groaned and grabbed his stuff and headed to the showers and wished the water could wash away all the unpleasantness of the day as well as his sweat.

* * *

Magnus heard the bell ring as he left the locker room. He was going to be late to English again but he knew Ms. Tebbit would not mind. She thought he was brilliant and was the only teacher who ever defended him. He quickly walked down the hallway, glancing at his bright purple watch to check the time. He was already two minutes late. He knew she wouldn't mark him tardy but he still felt a little guilty. He increased his speed and opened the door to the classroom.

All of the boys were sitting in their desks and at least half of them looked like they were trying not to fall asleep. Seemingly oblivious to the lack of attention the students paid her, Ms. Tebbit smiled and wrote lines from _A Midsummer's Night Dream_ on the board, the most prominent being "The course of true love never did run smooth".

As Magnus walked through the door Raphael looked up. The bruise from the dodge ball incident had already taken form on Magnus's face. "Nice eye shadow," Raphael taunted, earning some chuckles from the boys around him.

Magnus just gritted his teeth and quickly walked to his seat in the back of the classroom. Raphael knew that it was a black eye from gym class but he had to turn everything that went wrong for Magnus into some sort of gay joke or slur.

Ms. Tebbit turned around and looked quite unhappy. "Gentlemen," she said, her voice colored with disapproval, "you will not disrespect a soul in here."

A couple of the boys rolled their eyes but straightened up in their seats anyways. Sometimes there was an aura around the teacher that seemed to compel those around her to respect her commands.

She smiled once she saw that she had all of the boys' attentions. "Today I challenge you to write in verse."

Sebastian groaned and mouthed "That's so gay" to Meliorn who nodded.

"Remembering William Shakespeare scribe away your thoughts and feelings." She started to walk up and down the aisles of the classroom as the boys got out their notebooks and pencils. Magnus started just writing down sentences in iambic pentameter, trying to make something beautiful out of the words. He sighed as his thoughts were slowly taken over by a pair of irresistible blue eyes. He barely heard Ms. Tebbit begin to recite lines directly from _A Midsummer Night's Dream._

"What angel wakes me from my flowery bed," she began but paused so the class could respond.

"What angel wakes me from my flowery bed," half the class returned in a dull, monotone.

"I pray thee gentle mortal sing again," she continued and then gestured for the class to respond again.

"I pray thee gentle mortal sing again," intoned a few of the boys in the class as they stared blankly at the sheets of paper in front of them.

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind…"

Magnus let the words flow through his brain…

_He continued writing before some unknown force drew his attention to the front of the room. There, lounging on Ms. Tebbit's desk, was none other than Alec Lightwood, his limbs arranged with a sexy and careless grace. His hair was messy and his shirt unbuttoned and open, revealing his beautifully sculpted chest and abs. On the board behind him was "Magnus" rewritten over and over is beautiful cursive of varying sizes. Suddenly, Alec looked up through his lowered lashes, a sultry look on his face. Magnus blinked twice, disbelieving the image before him. He slowly lifted his head until he was staring at Magnus, blatant desire evident in his soulful blue eyes._

"_Magnus Bane," he sang, extending one of his arms out towards the boy in the back of the room. "Oh, Magnus Bane." His voice clung to every syllable, painting it with his affection._

_Alec slowly lowered his arm put his hand down on his thigh and smiled proudly at Magnus, who sat there, dazed. _

_The boys sitting in front of him turned around to face him one by one, each with inscrutable facial expressions. "Oh Magnus Bane," they repeated, creating a background chorus for Alec's sweet and beautiful voice._

"_Magnus Bane, oh, Magnus Bane," Alec sang again, his need for the tall boy still present in every word he sang._

_Then Ms. Tebbit appeared in front of her desk and threw papers into the air. They began to fall back down, slowly, like confetti at a parade as a bell rang…_

…the bell rang signaling the end of class. Magnus blinked, the images from before slowly fading back into his brain, becoming only memories.

"Magnus," Ms. Tebbit said, startling Magnus out of reverie completely. The class was completely empty. The other boys probably high tailed it out of there like they did every day. They seemed to have a problem with the way Ms. Tebbit looked at them. It was like she could see your soul. In her hands she held flyers for the auditions for _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. She tried to hand him one but he refused to accept it. After today in gym he had no desire to spend more time than necessary with the over-grown, unwashed chimps that seemed to occupy his classes. "The senior play, auditions are Friday," she said, still holding it in front of his face.

"I'm not an actor," Magnus lied, as he quickly put his things in his messenger bag. He had stopped doing plays when he transferred to this school. Since it was an all boys academy, there was an obsession with masculinity and doing theater didn't fit the bill. He had quit in order to try to save as much face as possible but even giving up his love for the stage had not prevented the bullying. He sometimes felt like he had rainbow letters over his head that read "GAY".

Ms. Tebbit's smile showed she saw through his lie. "All the world's a stage," she quoted.

_And all the men and women merely players, _Magnus finished in his head. She was using his weakness for Shakespeare to get him to do the play. Normally she was not quite so insistent. Maybe doing this would help him…

No. He quickly shook his head and rid himself of that idea. Doing the play would only increase the ridiculing of the Neanderthals that attended this prestigious school. He stood up and started to leave the classroom.

He was almost out of the door when she said, "Awaken and empower what's within."

Magnus paused. He wanted to be able to empower what was within himself but the world seemed to want to force him into the shadows. The idea was very tempting and he did love the play. He grabbed the flyer she offered him and walked out of the classroom. He stopped right outside the door and looked at the purple piece of paper he held in his hand. Ragnor would be proud of him for doing the play seeing as though he had never understood why Magnus found it necessary to leave his acting days behind him. But Tessa, well Tessa was the more reasonable of his two best friends. He would ask them after school about what he should do. He then put the flyer in his bag and began walking in the direction of his history class. It was no use fretting over the play right now. He still had a couple of days to mull over his decision.

He wasn't looking when he rounded the corner so he walked straight into Jace Lightwood's open locker, hitting himself in the face for the second time that day. Magnus hissed as fresh pain attacked his eye.

"You might want to watch where you're going," Jace remarked in a bored voice.

"I'll take that under advisement," Magnus replied, surprising the soccer player in front of him.

"He talks," was the sarcastic reply.

"I've also been known to laugh and sing upon command."

"And he has got some sass. Tell me, do you normally walk into people's lockers or was it my stunning good looks that did you in?" Jace asked while running his hand through his golden mane of hair.

Magnus quirked an eyebrow. This was the longest conversation he'd had with anyone else at this school that was not related to a group project. "It was your charming personality. Nothing says attractive quite like arrogance."

Jace raised an eyebrow in return. "Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?"

Magnus shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to get into a verbal sparring match with Jace Lightwood. He preferred saving his quick retorts and witty remarks for Ragnor and Tessa. Also, he was a bit afraid of how the jock would react to any form of playful banter. It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. "Well, I've better be going now. Apologize to your locker for me," he joked and began to walk away. Jace grabbed his arm stopping him.

"You did cause my locker to hit my shoulder. Do I get an apology?"

It was at that moment that Sebastian decided to walk by. "Hey look, it looks like being a fairy is contagious."

Jace let go of Magnus's arm like it had burned his hand. The other boys in the hallway started laughing, some even giving Sebastian high fives.

Magnus hurried away from the laughing and the jeering. _Only four more hours until I can leave this school. Four more hours, _he repeated to himself as his eye throbbed.

_

* * *

**Preview: Advice from old friends **_


	4. Enter Friendship, Stage Right

**AN: Hello! I am such a bad author! I'm sorry it took my so long to update (I am aware I said something about two weeks but that certainly didn't happen0 but life is what happens while you're making other plans. I managed to injure myself so I couldn't really write but now I am back in the saddle again! If only I had a beta to brow beat me into staying focused. *suggestive eyebrow wriggle* CoFA was amazing. Not super happy about the ending but I love the scene with Alec and Magnus. I absolutely swooned. I reference a band called the Freelance Whales in my story down below. You guys should check them out if you like more of an alternative sound. They are amazing. I personally love 'Hannah' and 'Broken Horses'. **

**I hope my readers are still with me! I would like to dedicate this chapter to my soul mate, my buddy Hunter, Stargleek Parker, ILuvYa44, lizrocks19, DisturbingEmily, mysteryssister, and Bookworm24601. Thank you guys for your love, support, and reviews. I also want to thank everyone who has alerted and favorited this story. You guys mean the world to me! I love ya to pieces! I'm sorry about the rambling author's notes! **

**The Malec goodness is still a few chapters off! Please stay with me! And let me know if you like the longer chapters because each chapter if longer than the previous one! And please review! I want to know what you like, what you don't like, who you want to punch in the stomach, what I can do better, everything. They inspire me to write! :)**

**Disclaimer: Recognize it? Not mine. Probably is Shakespeare, Cassandra Clare's or from Were the World Mine (a brilliant movie which is on Netflix instant watch).**

The final bell rang and Magnus let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. The jocks had surprisingly left him alone for the most part. Sebastian always whispered "fag" or something similar when he passed him in the hallway but no one pushed him or tried to hurt him. _I guess they think one giant bruise is enough_, Magnus thought to himself as he put his pens and notebook back into his messenger bag. He has survived another day in this his own miniature hell. CCHA was an all boys school thus is was packed to the brim with testosterone which added to the fact it was in a small town all you got was a sea full of homophobic assholes for a student population. The teachers and parents of the students weren't any better than the hellions in attendance. If anything, they were worse. He almost wished he could go to Idris Valley Academy, Cassandra Clare Hill's sister school that was all girls.

Magnus put his bag on his shoulder and left the classroom, grabbing the homework packet on the way out of the door. Every row he sat in always seemed to be one paper, packet, test, or quiz short. He was always forced to raise his hand to ask for the assignment. At first it didn't bother Magnus, all he was asking for was one assignment but it soon became a daily form of humiliation. Whatever class he was in, whatever was assigned, he always had to call attention to himself by asking for what every other student got. Except for in his English class; Ms. Tebbit always made sure he had all of the assignments and reading material necessary. She reminded him of his old French teacher, the one who taught at South Accords High School. He actually fit in there and had friends and…

_No,_ Magnus thought stopping his train of thought. He could never go back there. That school, that era of his life was in the past and could never fit into his future. All he had to do was finish up this school year and he could escape this town and their small town mentality. He just had to work hard and get scholarships and he could be in New York City. He wouldn't have to hide who he was or cower in fear whenever he saw a group of athletic guys headed in his direction. _One year left, _he repeated to himself, somewhat please by his new mantra.

Magnus quickly walked through the nearly deserted halls to his locker. He did the combo quickly and put away his Chemistry book. Lucky no one decided to "trip" while holding something in a beaker. He sighed and closed his locker, resting his head against the cold, painted metal for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the walk alongside the soccer field. By the time he got outside soccer practice would have started which meant he had to walk by all of his tormentors to get to the bike path.

With a slight groan he stood all the way up and began his walk to his bike. His mother didn't have enough money to buy him a car or even consider buying him a car so he took his bike every single day. He had to leave it in the faculty parking lot on the other side of campus to avoid it getting vandalized or stolen, a lesson he had to learn the hard way. The second the soccer team found of he was gay his bike had officially become a target for their cruel pranks.

He exited the doors of the building and spotted his bike. It was silver and had a little basket in the front, courtesy of Ragnor. Magnus smiled to himself as he remembered Ragnor's little project to "gay-ify" Magnus's bike. Apparently silver was a sexually ambiguous color and Magnus, being the flamboyant man he was, needed a better fitting bike. After arguing for hours about the fact painting purple would be stupid and suicidal, Ragnor had settled on adding flowers, painted in a slightly darker shade of silver and a basket in the front so he could "carry around Toto".

Magnus undid the bike lock and waved goodbye to Ms. Tebbit as she got into her car. He put the lock and the chain into his bag and began to push his bike towards the bike path.

He pushed his bike along, noticing the players running around on the field. Simon and Eric were trying to score a goal against Meliorn and were failing miserably. Sebastian and Jace were facing off head to head, their rivalry apparent in the aggression behind every move they made. Raphael, Jordan, and Alec were discussing strategy while running around the field, waiting for the coach to arrive. The other boys in the team were practicing with another ball on the other end of the field. Magnus looked at the bleachers and saw some girls from Idris sitting there. One was clearly Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's younger sister, and the other two girls Magnus did not know. He met Isabelle at last year's carnival. They had bonded over the fact they both wore the exact same shade of electric blue nail polish. She was a nice girl and did not suffer from the same homophobia everyone else in the town seemed to have. She was sitting by a pretty girl with caramel skin and a short girl with fire red hair and a smattering of freckles. He recognized the red haired girl from the art supplies store but did not know her name.

Magnus's eyes flicked back to Alec and the other soccer players as he walked along the backside of the bleachers. Alec and the other boys were heading towards the center of the field. Jace has apparently won against Sebastian due to the amount of arrogance rolling off of the blonde. Raphael consoling clapped Sebastian on the shoulder, who in return shrugged it off, a scowl turning his normally attractive face ugly. Jace saw the red head sitting in the bleachers and a smug grin broke out across his face. He waved and winked, causing the two girls who Magnus did not know to giggle. Isabelle rolled her eyes and pulled a nail file out of her purse and then proceeded to file her nails. She looked up for a moment and caught Simon's eyes before smiling. He smiled in return while blushing and then managed to trip over his own feet, causing the boys on his team to howl with laughter.

Magnus rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the bike path. He felt a little bit of jealousy creep into his system. He wouldn't get to have one of those awkward, yet undeniably adorable moments with anyone anytime soon and it kind of hurt. He never felt more alone than when he was at school. Everyone was friends with someone and had inside jokes and stories to tell. He was the outcast. He didn't come from money nor was he a jock so he had no group to automatically fall in with. He tried not to think about it as he got on his bike.

* * *

Magnus leaned against the pillar at the end of the bench and sighed. He was meeting his best friend Ragnor and Tessa here and they were late. He checked his watch again. It was already half past four and he was supposed to meet them the moment they got out of school. The park was a half way point between CCHA and SAHS. Bored out of his mind, Magnus decided to kill the time by reading _A Midsummer's Night Dream_. The more he reread the play the more he wanted to be a part of it. He had missed getting lost in Shakespeare's words and dawning someone else's skin for an hour or so. Magnus loved himself and was proud of who he was but after receiving day after day of endless grief for just being himself, being someone else would be a nice change. He wasn't ashamed of the fact he was gay but he felt like that was all he was seen as and was defined by. He was so tired of it and after the events of the past year he felt like he deserved some sort of break.

His eye throbbed painfully, drawing Magnus out of his self-pitying thoughts. _Damn dodgeball,_ Magnus thought angrily. He eye itched as if it was just trying to spite him. He touched his face and winced. _Sebastian sure can throw. Yay for _me, Magnus thought bitterly. He was almost positive Coach Starkweather would make them play Baseball once the weather got a bit better.

Magnus had just started to get lost in the iams scribed by Shakespeare when he heard a noise to his left. He jumped and turned his head sharply to see Ragnor and Tessa standing there, smiles on their faces and Tessa with a guitar in her hands.

"My aren't we jumpy today," Ragnor drawled, his hands in the pockets of his bright blue skinny jeans. His blonde hair was spiky and pointing in every direction. He wore a Freelance Whales t-shirt and a fitted grey vest.

"What's with the rainbow on your face?" Tessa asked, her grey eyes intent on Magnus's face.

"What's with the rainbow on your clothes?" Magnus returned, taking in Tessa's appearance. She was wearing a grey hat on top of her mane of soft brown waves. Her t-shirt was black and covered with words in an array of colors. She too wore a grey vest and her skirt was hot pink.

"Nice go-go boots," Magnus said with a snicker, putting his book back into his bag.

Tessa smiled down at her new white boots. "I thought they were pretty dang fabulous myself."

"What's with the crazy outfit?" Magnus asked as Ragnor joined him on the stone bench.

"Well Ragnor here," Tessa began with a dramatic gesture to the bi-sexual boy sitting next to Magnus, "informed me that you were all moody and gloomy again. So I, being the amazing and fabulous friend that I am, decided since you cannot wear a rainbow, that I should in your stead."

Magnus shot Ragnor a look. Ragnor shrugged as if to say 'it's true'.

"Which brings me back to my original question. What's with the black eye?"

"Yeah, what the hell happened to you?" Ragnor added.

"Physical education."

"Oh how I wish he meant that in a delightfully naughty way," Ragnor whispered to Tessa who nodded solemnly.

Magnus rolled his eyes.

"Was it…a golf ball?" Ragnor guessed.

"Nope."

"Right, no blood," Ragnor said to Tessa like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Was it…a basketball?" Ragnor guessed.

"No. Not in season."

Tessa decided it was time to break out her guitar that she almost always had on her. It was covered with various stickers and had paint splatters on it.

"The balls just won't stop coming, too bad they ain't the balls he's wanting," she sang while strumming a few chords on her guitar. "The irony is just as sad as the boy here, before my eyes." Ragnor laughed and Magnus just rolled his eyes, used to his friends' antics.

"It was a dodgeball," Magnus confessed.

Tessa pouted. "That's boring."

"If only it was a P.E. free school," Ragnor said.

"It's state law. Fags must play an hour of sports a day and get beat up."

"Well that is a stupid law," Tessa stated.

"Amen Sister!" Ragnor shouted prompting Tessa to playfully shove him.

"Do you need a body guard?" Ragnor asked, flexing his arms to show off his non-existent muscles.

"What he needs to do is stand up for himself. You know like Blaine said on _Glee:_ courage," Tessa responded.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start giving advice like that?" he asked, some bitchiness coloring his tone.

"Since I started my own personal revolution," Tessa responded nonchalantly as Ragnor riffled through Magnus's backpack. Magnus gave Ragnor a questioning look and received a 'you don't want to know' look in return.

Ragnor found the flyer Ms. Tebbit gave him and smirked. Tessa leaned down and snatched it from the boy's hands. "Are you going to be in Ms. T's play?"

"Of course he is," Ragnor answered for Magnus. "And they are going to kick Idris's butt."

"So you guys are doing that Shakespeare festival again?" Tessa inquired.

"Indeed we are. There are forty years of tradition behind it."

"What plays are the girls doing this year?" Ragnor asked, continuing to dig through Magnus's bookbag.

"They are doing Romeo and Juliet," Magnus replied, snatching his bag out of Ragnor's hands.

"Who do you think will win the competition this year?"

Magnus shrugged. "I don't know. They judges traditionally like the tragedies better."

"You'd think with having an all girls school and an all boys school they'd just come together and do one play," Ragnor supplied, getting up from the bench.

"But that would be too reasonable," Tessa commented, helping Ragnor brush the dirt off of his butt.

"I've heard Ms. T is a lesbian," Ragnor gossiped.

"Oh yeah? What proof do you have?" Tessa challenged.

"She drinks soy milk-"

"I drink soy milk!" Tessa replied angrily.

"Plays guitar, makes her own clothes," Ragnor said with a shit-eating grin.

"I'm not a lesbian. That's your fantasy." Tessa shrugged. "I'm hetero-flexible."

"Why don't you two just get it on already?" Magnus asked, grinning as he stood up and began to walk home, grabbing his bike and walking it beside him.

"I've tried," Tess protested helplessly.

"Have you?" Magnus countered with an even bigger grin.

"Hetero-flexible?" Ragnor repeated.

"I like men but shit happens."

Ragnor raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Let's go lovebirds!" Magnus called from out in front of them. They jogged to catch up, Tessa struggling a bit with her guitar.

"Here let me take that," Ragnor offered.

"I don't need your help. I'm an independent woman." Tessa paused for a moment before turning to Magnus. "Don't you dare start singing that song."

Magnus gave her his best 'who me?' face before starting to laugh.

"So besides getting nailed in the face with a dodgeball, how was your school day?" Ragnor asked.

Magnus shrugged. "It was the same as usual. I got called queer, was made fun of, took notes, wished I wasn't there, and then left."

"Were there any Alexander Lightwood sightings?" Ragnor questioned with a devious gleam in his eyes.

"He's in my English class so of course I saw him," Magnus responded, flushing.

"He's blushing. You know what that means? There is something he isn't telling us," Ragnor stated.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Magnus retorted.

"Don't make me tickle you!" Ragnor threatened, his face dead serious.

"You know how he's in my P.E. class," Magnus began, his friends nodding eagerly, hoping for some juicy story. "Well, he obviously saw me get hit and when we were in the locker room later-"

"He threw you down on one of the benches and made passionate love to you!" Ragnor supplied gleefully.

"No," Magnus answered firmly.

"Boo," Tessa said. "Did he offer you a condolence shower?"

"A condolence shower?" Magnus repeated, his voice incredulous. "No, he did not offer me a condolence shower. He offered to get me ice for my eye."

"Oh Alexander! My dashing hero! Fetch me some ice for my wound!" Tessa cried out dramatically.

"Oh my dear Magnus! I would do anything to ensure the posterity of thy beautiful face!" Ragnor responded just as dramatically, grabbing Tessa's hand and grinning like a lovesick fool.

"Oh Alexander! How your words inspire my soul!" Tessa said, pretending to swoon.

Magnus shoved Ragnor, quickly ending their little show.

"Boo. You always ruin my fun," Ragnor mumbled, dropping Tessa's hand and straightening out his vest.

Magnus laughed humorlessly. "If you had been there you wouldn't think it was 'fun'."

"You know you could always come back," Tessa suggested in a quiet voice.

"No. I can't."

"I didn't mean live with your dad…"

"I don't have a father," Magnus said in a dead voice.

"Just because your father is an asshole does not make him nonexistent," Ragnor insisted.

Magnus glared at his best friend. "What kind of father tells his son he is no longer welcome because of something he can't control? What kind of father looks at his own child like he is a monster? What kind of father says he wishes he had hit his son when he was younger because that would have beaten the gay out? No father is ever supposed to say those things. I have no father." Angry tears rolled down Magnus's face. "Fuck," he whispered, wiping his face with the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

"Your father is a heartless douchemonster and I will be the first to admit it. But it doesn't change the fact that he is your father," Ragnor stated firmly.

"It doesn't matter if he is or isn't. I'm never going back there so long as he's there."

"You could move in with me again," Tessa suggested.

"No. I have just worked things out with my mom again. I'm not going to risk screwing it up after all she has done for me."

It took her three months to leave your father after he kicked you out," Ragnor pointed out.

"So? She didn't have enough money or even a job to get the money. She isn't perfect but neither am I. I'm going to try to make things work."

"Boy, our conversation has gotten serious," Tessa remarked after a moment or two of silence.

"That's what happens when we spend copious amounts of time together. Speaking of which, I'm repainting my bedroom this weekend. And guess what, you're invited," Ragnor said with a smile.

"See Magnus, Ragnor is trying to get me in bed," Tessa retorted with a smirk.

"I'm going to be there too so I certainly hope not."

"You're welcome to join," Ragnor suggested with a leer and a wink.

"You're disgusting," Magnus said shoving Ragnor with his hip.

"And I thought I was special," Tessa whined, a smile evident in her tone.

"Oh you are special, just more of a 'don't eat the glue' special."

"Why you!" Tessa yelled, grabbing her guitar like a club. She pretended to swing it at Ragnor who ducked and laughed.

"Magnus! Save me! She's going to kill me!" Ragnor raced to the other side of Magnus and crouched behind the bike, using the boy and the vehicle as shield.

"I'm sorry my friend but you brought this on yourself."

"Ah!" Ragnor screamed as Tessa chased him with her guitar.

Magnus laughed and followed his friends. His horrible day was beginning to look up.

* * *

**_Preview: Magnus's mother_**


	5. The Woes and Wiles of Home

**AN: Hello everybody! I was trying to have this chapter out quickly but that didn't quite work out! This is the last chapter of mostly back story. The action will start to pick up shortly, I promised. I just wanted to set the stage properly and give you back story that would make the actions of the characters make more sense. Plus I want to make sure I do the movie, Magnus, and Alec justice. The next chapter or the chapter after shall contain the lovely auditions. So there should be two or three chapters between now and when rehearsals begin. I don't want to drag things out too long but I need to try to match the timing of the movie at least somewhat. If any of you have seen the movie, I will add more to end than there is. I want there to be more than just one chapter of happy ending! Sorry if I spoiled anything but I think you guys could all guess where this is heading!**

**I want to thank everyone who has alerted, favorited, or reviewed my story! You guys are the reason I can continue writing! Thank you Quartz, holymfwickee, Stargleek Parker, malec 4 eva, Imlosinghope, and Bookworm24601 for your guy's reviews! It means the world to me! So please, review review review! I want to know what you like, don't like, think I need, think I should change, think I shouldn't change! Your reviews make my day and help inspire me to write more! So please let me know what you think! Redvines, Malec kisses, and rainbows for a week to anyone who reviews!**

**I got a Beta reader but this chapter is unbeta'd and probably is gonna be the last one that is! *happy dances around the room* So that means all mistakes are my own. **

**Disclaimer: Hey guess what...still don't own it. **

"What type of soda do you want?" Magnus yelled, as he stuck his head into the fridge, grabbing an iced tea for himself.

"Sprite!" Tessa called from the other room. She walked into the kitchen without her guitar. She had put it in its customary spot in Magnus's house: right in front of the fireplace.

Magnus grabbed a Sprite from the top shelf and blindly tossed it behind him. Tessa caught it and smiled. "I swear, sometimes it's almost as if you just snap your fingers and whatever I asked for comes sailing through the air at me."

"It's a gift," Magnus responded, kicking the fridge door shut behind him, causing a picture and a magnet to fall off.

Ragnor bent down to pick it up. The picture was of Magnus, Tessa, and himself from third grade. They had just gotten their faces painted and were striking dramatic poses in front of the gazebo that was in the backyard of Magnus's old house. "Magnus you were so cute. What happened?"

Magnus smacked Ragnor on the arm. "I guess I just caught your ugly."

Tessa laughed. "That came back to bite you in the ass."

Ragnor just grunted and grabbed a bag of chips off the top of the fridge. "Don't I get a beverage?" he asked Magnus as he plopped himself down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"You have legs and you know where they are," Magnus replied as he sat down next to Ragnor, grabbing a few chips out of the bag.

"But you got Tessa one!"

"Yes I did but she never said I was ugly."

"I didn't _say _you were ugly. I just _insinuated_ it," Ragnor explained.

"Same difference. If you are thirsty move your lazy ass and get yourself a damn drink," Magnus replied with a smile.

Ragnor muttered to himself as he stood up and got a lemonade out of the fridge. Tessa sat down across from Magnus at the table and picked an apple from the bowl in between them. "I love apples," she said dreamily as she took a bite.

"For being such a health nut I find it strange that you drink Sprite," Ragnor stated as he slid back into the seat next to Magnus.

"Hey, every girl has her vices. Mine just happen to be Sprite and bright colored eyeliner."

"Mine are lemonade and band t-shirts," Ragnor said, proudly gesturing to the drink in his hand and then to his shirt.

"Yeah and Magnus's are sparkles, Shakespeare, and Alexander Lightwood's ass," Tessa supplied with glee.

Magnus shot her a glare and threw an apple at her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "I'm not Dorothy! Quit throwing apples at me!"

"Nice reference," Ragnor said, giving Tessa a fist bump.

"You only approve because of your extremely unhealthy obsession with the Wizard of Oz."

"You're just jealous that I was the one to think of giving you a basket to carry Toto in."

"But I don't even have a dog," Magnus said slowly, as if he was explaining something to someone who was a bit slow on the uptake.

Ragnor snorted. "It doesn't matter. It's still a pretty amazing addition to your gender neutral bike."

"All inanimate objects are gender neutral, dumb ass," Tessa stated.

"In foreign languages objects get masculine and feminine gender articles," Magnus countered, punctuating he statement by eating a chip.

"Stop being such a smart ass," Tessa muttered, taking an angry bite of her apple.

"I'd rather be a smart ass than a dumb ass," Magnus replied with an arrogant smirk.

"I'm wounded by your words. How you mock me thusly!" Ragnor cried.

"Oh shut up, you drama queen," Magnus said with a smile.

"You're the queen not me," Ragnor returned, stealing the bag of chips out of Magnus's hands.

Magnus just snorted and snatched the bag back.

"Magnus!" they heard a voice call from outside. "Magnus, sugar, I need your muscles for a minute!" It was Magnus's mother.

Magnus got up from the table and opened the door to reveal his mother struggling with grocery bags. Her brown hair was escaping from the pins that were keeping it in place. She was dressed somewhat nicer than usual in a violet blouse and nice pants. She was even wearing a little bit of make-up.

Magnus grabbed one of the bags from his mother's hands while holding the door open with his hip. She walked through the door, looking down at the phone she held in her hand, not really paying attention to the two other teenagers in the kitchen. She put the bag down on one on the beige countertops and responded to the e-mail that lit up the screen of her phone. Magnus followed his mother back into the kitchen and put the bag down across from Ragnor before snagging a few chips from the bag. His mother looked up from the phone, glancing at her son and his friends before starting to unload the grocery bags.

"You're home early," she began, opening the fridge to put the milk and eggs in.

"Not really," Magnus answered turning to look at her.

She stood up and looked at Magnus with a 'don't take the tone with me' look which quickly faded as she saw the bruise that surrounded his eye. His eye was swollen and the bruise was already multiple colors. She sighed and closed the fridge. In an exasperate tone she asked, "What happened?"

Magnus recognized that tone immediately. "It was an accident-"

His mom knocked the dish rack off of the counter with a sweep of her arm. The plastic dishes bounced across the floor effectively changing the atmosphere in the room. Ragnor stopped munching on the chips and Tessa's lips pressed together in a tight line.

"So was that," his mother said, one of her eyebrows raised in challenge.

Magnus just sighed and got off the chair. He knelt on the floor and began to pick up the dishes. His mother knelt down across from him and straightened out the dish rack.

"Why do I work my ass off to put you in that damn school-", she ranted, putting the silver wear and mugs back into the rack.

"You finally got a job?" Magnus asked brightly. His mother had lost the last one once her boss had discovered that her son was in fact a "queer".

His mother just sighed again, continuing to put the dishes back. "Your father was right-"

Magnus's face darkened. "I don't have a father," he stated angrily, standing up.

"I should just lock you up in your room," she continued, her voice thick with emotion.

Magnus quickly fled the room, obviously upset. "You know what I'm sacrificing?" she called after him.

Ragnor stood up when Magnus did and was close behind him as he ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Tessa began to follow Ragnor out of the room. "Tell him I did get a job," Magnus's mom said, putting the last of the dishes back into the dish rack.

Tessa gave her a look. "It was just a dodge ball." She then followed the boys out of the kitchen, leaving Magnus's mother on the kitchen floor. Magnus's mother's face fell. She had thought he had gotten into another fight with one of the boys at school. The last time he came home with a black eye was because Sebastian had called him a fag and pushed him into a locker. Instead of just walking away Magnus had yelled back an insult which resulted in Sebastian decking him. She cursed and wiped her eyes.

* * *

Magnus was laying face down on his canary yellow comforter when Ragnor and Tessa entered the room.

"You know she didn't mean it," Ragnor whispered as he sat down next to Magnus on his bed. Tessa sat on the other side of Magnus and began to rub soothing circles on his back.

Magnus didn't say a word but his friends knew him well enough to know he was either crying or about to cry. Tessa and Ragnor shared a look over Magnus.

"She got the job you know. She's probably just stressed," spoke Tessa, weakly trying to defend his mother's actions.

Magnus just shrugged, his face still buried in a rainbow pillow. He had had a hard enough day without the little fight with his mom. Most days were fine and free of any harsh words or animosity. When he had first moved back in with his mother the little white house had been full of an awkward silence. For the first three months the silence had lived in the house with them, almost like a third person. His mother had left his father to look after him but seemed to have some reluctance about it. Tired of the silence, Magnus had provoked his mother into a screaming match. Ever since then they had started talking, their fights becoming rarer and rarer.

Tessa looking down at her friend's upset form. She looked back up at Ragnor. _Do something to cheer him up,_ she mouthed to him.

_No. You do it. You're the creative one,_ he mouthed back, emphasizing "creative" with air quotes.

_Me? No. You are better at it,_ Tessa returned, still completely silent.

"I know you guys are mouthing things to each other," came the muffled voice of Magnus.

Tessa's eyes widened and she did a gesture that implied Ragnor should do something.

"What makes you so sure?" Ragnor challenged, amusement coloring his voice to show he wasn't trying to be mean.

"You two can't keep your mouths shut that long around each other for you to be doing anything but mouthing words."

Tessa laughed and continued rubbing Magnus's back.

"We were deciding on what we should do today," Ragnor explained, reclining against Magnus's headboard and stretching out his legs. He laid his calves across Magnus's butt and playful caressed Tessa's arm with his toes. Tessa made a face and smacked his foot.

"Could you possibly do it without needing to lay yourself across my ass?" Magnus asked, his voice still muffled by the pillows.

"Ragnor decided he wanted to play dress up but he didn't have the courage to ask you if you were up for it."

Ragnor glared at Tessa and motioned that she should take back her words.

"Are you serious?" Magnus said, abruptly sitting up, causing Ragnor to fall of the bed.

"Dead serious," Tessa replied with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Magnus turned around and dangled his head off the bed so he could manage eye contact with Ragnor, who was currently rubbing his own head. "Is she serious?"

Ragnor, feeling pressured by the sudden happy gleam in Magnus's eyes, nodded. "Yes. After years of begging me to parade around in drag, you finally have gotten your wish."

Magnus sat up gleefully. "Tessa, grab my Polaroid camera. I don't ever want to forget this."

Tessa hurriedly hopped off of his bed and went into his closet. "Where is it?"

"Top shelf, next to my leather jacket," Magnus called back. He turned to look at Ragnor. "You," he began pointing at the boy on the floor, "are going to go into the hall closet and grab the blue dress."

Ragnor groaned and stood up. "You are _so_ lucky I'm such an awesome friend," he retorted before leaving to get the dress Magnus told him about.

Tessa came skipping back into the room with the camera in one hand and a pair of silver shoes in the other. "This is going to be so much fun!" she squealed.

Magnus smirked. "I've been waiting to return the favor ever since he dared me to dress in drag."

"I'm sure you rocked the dress," Tessa commented, taking a picture of Magnus kneeling on his bed with a quirked eyebrow and a suggestive smirk. "This is totally going in my locker."

Ragnor reentered the room, a long, electric blue evening dress in his left hand. He grabbed the picture out of Tessa's hand. "No. We are saving this for the day Magnus managed to seduce Alexander Lightwood. Then he can put it is _his _locker."

"Silly me. I had almost forgotten about him," Tessa said, handing Ragnor the silver pumps.

"Should I even ask why you have silver high heels in your closet?" Ragnor questioned.

"My closet serves as overflow shoe storage for my mom."

Ragnor looked at him dubiously. "I prefer to believe you are a fabulous drag queen in your spare time."

Magnus rolled your eyes. "I don't want to hear about your fantasies."

Ragnor looked offended. "Seriously?"

"First me as lesbian, now Magnus as a drag queen. You have a twisted mind my dear friend," Tessa commented, clapping Ragnor on his shoulder.

Ragnor pursed his lips and gave Tessa a dirty look. He then did a sharp turn and strode into Magnus's closet with some definite attitude thrown into his swagger.

Tessa rolled her eyes with an indulgent smile. She plopped down on the bed next to Magnus. "This is going to be so much fun," she whispered.

Magnus nodded. "I bet he ends up loving wearing the dress," he whispered conspiratorially.

Tessa giggled and responded in a hushed tone. "I bet he'll try to steal the dress from you and wear it at home every night."

Ragnor suddenly reentered the room, the dress on and the shoes dangling in his right hand. "Why are we whispering?"

Tessa shrugged. She grabbed the camera from where she put it behind her and took a picture of Ragnor standing in the doorway of Magnus's closet in the sparkly blue evening gown.

Magnus grabbed the picture from where the camera spit it out and began shaking it. "Shake it like a Polaroid picture," he sang.

Tessa laughed. "Ragnor, you need to put on the shoes."

"I tried. They don't fit."

"Hey," Magnus said patting the bed, "you sit here and I'll help you."

Ragnor walked over to where Magnus was and sat down next to him. Magnus stood up and grabbed the chair that sat by his desk and put it for it faced Ragnor. He took a seat and grabbed the shoes from Ragnor's hands. He grabbed Ragnor's right leg and put it in his lap and grabbed the shoe that went with his right foot. As he slipped it on, a flash lit up the room.

"I just had to capture the Cinderella moment," Tessa explained with a smirk.

Ragnor fake-glared at his friend. "That's CInderfella to you, missy."  
Tessa just smiled and took another picture. "Oh the years of black mail material this day shall yield!"

Magnus chuckled and slid the left show onto Ragnor's other foot. "There you go."

Ragnor stood up and tried to take a step. He wobbled and ran into Magnus's dresser. "How do you even walk in these?"

"Try placing most of your weight on the balls of your feet," Magnus suggested nonchalantly.

Tessa gave him a curious look. "How do you know how to walk in heels?"

"I told you," Ragnor said, strutting around the room, quickly adjusting to the silver high heels, "he's a fabulous drag queen in his spare time."

Magnus just rolled his eyes. "Tessa, we need lots of pictures."

"Go stand over there by him," she ordered, standing on top of the bed, bouncing up and down.

Magnus walked over to Ragnor, who was trying to moon walk and failing miserably. He turned the blonde boy around so he was facing the camera.

"Make sexy faces!" Tessa yelled, taking a picture of them looking a bit confused.

They shared a look and both popped a hip, a sexy pout decorating their faces.

"Wonderful darling," Tessa drawled in an exaggerated British accent. "Now make you know you want it! Be a tiger!"

The boys started laughing before bearing their teeth and making claws.

"My fearsome jungle cats," she cooed as she took pictures of them, their poses and facial expressions getting more and more silly as time went on. Magnus picked up Ragnor bridal style for a couple and Ragnor returned the favor in a few of the other ones.

"Tessa, it is time for us to switch places," Magnus declared, getting more blank photos to put in the camera.

Tessa hopped off the bed and handed Magnus the camera. "Make sure to get my good side."

"You have a good side?" Ragnor quipped while fixing the straps on his dress.

Magnus snapped a shot of Tessa flipping Ragnor off before leaping on top of his bed.

"Now, work it darlings!" he cried before starting to take picture after picture of his ridiculous friends.

* * *

Ragnor and Tessa left a few hours later, after divvying up the picture between the three of them. Magnus had a lot of pictures of Ragnor and him. He didn't know which of his friends took the picture of him on the bed with his "sexy smirk" as Tessa called it, but he assumed it was Ragnor. He wasn't going to see either Tessa or Ragnor again until Saturday due to the fact Ragnor and Tessa worked on Thursdays and the auditions were on Friday. Magnus grabbed a few thumbtacks from the bowl on his dresser and tacked up the picture of Ragnor kissing Tessa's cheek while holding her bridal style and the one of him and Ragnor doing a secret agent pose. He smiled at the pictures, glad he was able to get some joy out of his awful day. His eye still throbbed and whatever since of bravery he felt early that week from his talk with Ragnor was gone. Ragnor was right: Alexander Lightwood didn't seem to be worth as much after a black eye. The same stupid black eye that caused another fight with his mother. A fight that caused him to skip dinner, again.

He sighed and reached under his bed for his calendar. He kept track of how many days he had between fights with his mother, sometimes looking at the progress he'd made in order to remind himself that things _were_ getting better, slowly yet surely. He grabbed the red sharpie from his pencil cup and drew an 'X' in the box belonging to Wednesday. It had been a month and a half since the last fight, practically a record. His stomach growled angrily at him for skipping dinner but he didn't want to try to make small talk with his mother after getting into a yelling match with her. He would just make sure to eat a big breakfast tomorrow. Fainting at school was not an option.

He put his calendar back under his bed and walked over to his desk. He dug around inside of his bag until he found his copy of _A Midsummer's Night Dream_. Magnus made up his mind then and there that he was going to audition for the play. There was no winning against the jocks no matter what he did so he would try doing what he wanted for a change. He'd let his unrequited feelings and daily hate stop him long enough. He sat down on his bed and began to read it, getting lost in the words. Somehow, despite the recent negative association he was beginning to get with it due to school, the play never failed to make him feel better. Doing the play would probably make him feel better too, despite being surrounded by homophobic pricks.

"_Lord what fools these mortals be",_ Magnus muttered to himself as he read the same line in the book, smiling at the truth in the words.

He would have gladly stayed up reading for hours longer but he heard his mother coming up the stairs. He quickly turned off his light and dove under the covers, pretending to be asleep so his mother wouldn't find it necessary to try and apologize or do whatever she felt she had to do after the fight. It was always awkward after a fight. His mother normally felt insane amounts of guilt and would end up baking him his favorite types of dessert in order to make amends.

He heard his door creak open and his mother step into the room. "Good night Magnus," she whispered into the dark. "I love you."

He heard her footsteps retreat and continue down the hall into her bedroom. Magnus closed his eyes and sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. People were stupid. They hated him for being gay, they hated him for liking bright clothes, they hating him for being _him._ He fought with his mom because she blamed him for provoking other's hate and he fought with the goons who went to his school because they felt a need to constantly express their irrational hate.

_Oh, what fools these mortals be,_ Magnus repeated to himself one last time before letting exhaustion take over. The stress of fighting with his mom, getting injured, and spending more than three hours with Ragnor and Tessa had tired him out. He quickly fell asleep and began to have strange dreams. He dreamt of fairies and Alexander Lightwood, twisted together with Shakespearian words and beautiful costumes. He was running through a forest, surrounded by the members of the soccer teams, all wearing wings and all singing lines for _A Midsummer's Night Dream_. Ms. Tebbit suddenly appeared before him and he could have sworn he heard her whisper, "And thus the story begins." But soon this was lost to him, just another sentence swirling about in dreamland.

* * *

**AN: Ok just a quick question: how many of you want the audition to be next chapter? And do you like the chapter length? Please please please review! **

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**


	6. I Know Not By What Power I'm Made Bold

**AN: Hello! I'm sorry I haven't updated since May! But I do promise to have at least two more chapters up by the end of August. I hope you guys are still reading this! I feel like such an awful author. I wanted to get this chapter to you guys as soon as possible so not beta'd but it hopefully you guys like it. This is the audition chapter! Ta-dah! I am basing this off of the Movie but I have to keep to the characterization of the Mortal Instruments characters. Please let me know what you guys think! Reviews help me so much! They inspire me with ideas and with ideas comes more chapters! I love you guys to pieces and would like to thank Paranoid Observer, Stargleek Potter, D, akkiofthefuck, ILuvYa44, Bookworm24601, and tayl0r for their lovely reviews~**

**Please let me know what you think even if it is just "good!" Italics are flashbacks/thoughts/fantasy interludes**

**Disclaimer: Don't own nothing, no shakespeare, no Mortal Instruments, or Lady Gaga's music. I just play with it.**

The final bell rang and the boys poured out their math class. Magnus watched as the boys headed off to the gym to audition. Magnus paused outside the door of his math class. The week had been quite uneventful after his dodge ball injury. Things had settled down at home a bit though he and his mother still weren't really talking all that much. Ragnor and Tessa had gotten sucked into some school project so he hadn't heard much from them and he still didn't really talk to anyone at school. Except for that morning. Magnus chuckled remembering what happened that morning before school.

There was a reason Magnus hadn't rushed out of the school yet and that was because he was still torn about the idea of auditioning. There was the potential that he would make a huge fool of himself and he would be called "fairy" until he graduated but then there was a chance that this would be his refuge at school. He had a little under forty five minutes to decide whether or not to go on that stage and see how he fell into Ms. Tebbit's world of Shakespeare.

He started to walk to his locker when he heard the first of the auditions pour out from the open door. The voice was singing softly but it had a decent quality to it. If he had to guess, he'd guess it was Alec singing. A voice like that belonged to him.

Magnus continued on his way to his locker and quickly switched out his books and collected all of the stuff he would need to do his homework over the weekend.

He turned to leave the school when something that almost sounded like yowling assaulted his ears. That had to be Sebastian singing. He had heard him attempt to sing in the locker room before but this was exponentially worse.

_I can sing way better than him_, Magnus thought to himself.

_Then why don't you prove it,_ his inner voice responded.

Magnus turned to look behind him, back towards the gym. He could wait until the others were done and be the last person to go on stage. None of the jocks would be there to make fun of him because they'd be getting dressed for practice.

_Do it,_ said his inner voice, which was beginning to sound like Ragnor. _Do it and you'll probably see more of your delicious Alexander._

Magnus bit his lip. It was now or never. He shook his head and headed out of the school doors. Auditioning was stupid. _Coward,_ his inner voice taunted. He was so lost in his thought he didn't notice the piece of paper until he slipped on it. He landed hard on his butt.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing the spot where he landed. Angrily, he snatched the paper to see what on earth was out to get him. It was a flyer for the play.

_It's fate. First yowling, now you falling. Get your ass back in there and audition,_ his inner voice snapped.

Magnus sighed and stood up, no longer able to deny the demands. _Who needs a sassy gay friend when you have a sassy gay inner voice, _he thought to himself.

_That's the spirit, now kick their asses_.

* * *

The auditioning process was not going as well as Ms. Tebbit had hoped. Alexander Lightwood gave a good audition, Sebastian Verlac probably scared away any animals within one hundred feet of the school, and no other boy really stood out.

Jace Lightwood strut over to the piano behind which Ms. Tebbit sat. "Hello," he said, giving his most charming smile.

She smiled at him. She nodded towards the script. "Begin reading."

"Actually I prepared a monologue," he replied.

"From what?"

"The Hangover."

"I would prefer it if you read from the material we will be using in the play."

Jace snorted. "But it's Shakespeare."

"Yes dear, I know."

He snatched up a script with an eye roll. "I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove; I will roar you 'twere any nightingale."

He gave Ms. Tebbit a look. "What does that even mean?"

Ms. Tebbit sighed. "It will come in time. Now let me hear you sing."

"Looo loo loo looo looo," Simon sang, completely tone deaf.

Ms. Tebbit cringed but kept a slight smile. Simon taking note of her cringe tried to defend himself. "I'm better without the piano."

She gave him a smile. "I'm sure you are."

"I see their…knavery, it is to make an ass of me to….frighten, no, to fright me," Raphael read, trying to force the words out. "Wait, is this a girl's part?"

Ms. Tebbit had to suppress an eye roll. "You're dismissed." She stood up from the piano bench and collected the script from the boy.

"If it helps at all, I'm growing out a goatee," Raphael said as he picked up his back pack.

"Oh," she said. Raphael rushed off to the locker room to dress down for soccer practice. Ms. Tebbit sighed and looked at the clock: the time she had reserved for auditions was almost over. She turned to face the door and saw Magnus standing in the gym, holding a flyer. Her smile widened. "Delightful," she commented, happy that he showed up. She gestured for him to come up on stage. Magnus took a fortifying breath, trying not to over think why he decided to come and audition. He walked up the steps and took the script that his teacher was offering to him.

The door opened and Coach Starkweather walked in, rolling a bin of soccer balls and practice jerseys in it, looking bored and slightly offended. "Times up," he said, trying to gain authority with his tone of voice and way of walking. He had his new whistle hung proudly around his neck and a frown deeply written into his face.

_Of course I don't get to audition_, Magnus thought to himself. _I manage to talk myself into coming and then I don't even get to do anything._

Ms. Tebbit gave Coach Starkweather a disapproving look. "We have ten minutes more."

"My team needs to practice. Your time is up," he replied, his voice rising.

"You little warriors may enter when I am done in ten minutes and not a second sooner. Until then the stage is ours." She turned to Magnus with a smile.

Coach Starkweather huffed in defeat. "The stage made for better storage!" He stormed out, looking extremely displeased.

Magnus felt himself in slight awe of Ms. Tebbit. For some reason she could even get him to do what she wanted.

"Now where were we," she said, drawing Magnus's attention back to the audition.

"I was just about to make a fool of myself," he replied with a laugh in his voice. He stood across from her as she sat down at the piano bench and pulled out the sheet music.

"We will start with you reading some lines and then we shall see how well you sing."

Magnus had to suppress a giggle at the thought of him singing. He had had an incident early that morning where he inadvertently gave Alec Lightwood a truly stunning performance…

_Magnus walked into the locker room thirty minutes earlier than usual. He wanted to be dressed down before everyone else arrived because he had no desire to try and relive what had happened to him on Monday with the dodge ball incident. After changing his clothes in record time, he started to grow bored when he remembered he had his iPod on him. He pulled it out and hit shuffle putting the sparkly purple earbuds in his ears. He hit shuffle and one of his favorite songs came on. He stood up and started to put his school things and uniform in his PE locker. But soon the irresistible music of _Government Hooker_ by Lady Gaga got to him and he started to swing his hips back and forth and mutter the lyrics under his breath. When it hit the chorus he was full on dancing, moving his hips fluidly from side to side. He jumped onto the bench in between the two rows of lockers and began to fully sing_

"_As long as I'm your hooker," he belted, dipping down and slowly standing straight up again. "As long as I'm hooker!" He spun on one foot and began strutting up and down the bench, completely lost in the music. "As long as I'm hooker!" He started to move his body in truly sinful ways. "Hooker!" he sang, holding out the o's. _

_He turned around to continue his dance and there he saw Alexander Lightwood standing in the doorway, his cheeks bright red and his eyes extremely wide and almost glazed. A moment of silence hung over the locker room. Magnus had forgotten he was at school for a moment and now he was caught with his metaphorical pants down. Magnus decided to embrace his inner hooker and play it off. "The dances are free but if you want more it's gonna cost but I promise you'll get a discount," he said with a seductive smile on his face. _

_Alec began to stutter and Magnus, deciding that it was fun playing with the poor boy, gave him a wink. Alec's face became redder and his brain seemed to have short circuited. He turned and fled the locker room, leaving Magnus alone. _

_Magnus smirked and continued where he left off, "Yeah you're my hooker!"_

Magnus smiled again, remembering how flustered the boy had been around him the rest of the day. "Ok."

Ms. Tebbit gave him and a page number and he began to read.

"And the youth mistook by me, pleading for a lover's fee. Shall we their fond pageant see? Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

She smiled at the smoothness at which he read the lines he was given. "I agree completely." She walked over to him and took the script from his hand and replaced it with a piece of sheet music. "Let's sing!" She walked briskly back over to the piano and sat down. She began playing notes. "Loo loo loo, loo loo loo, loo loo loo, loo loo loo," she sang in tune with song, trying to give Magnus a feel of the song before he had to sing the lyrics. "Now you."

Magnus hesitated. "Follow me," she instructed.

He took a shaky breath and began to follow her, "Loo loo loo, loo loo loo, loo loo loo."

She smiled, content with how fast he picked it up. "Now with the lyrics. Deep breath and-" she left her sentence hanging to give Magnus his chance to sing.

He looked at the sheet music again and began to sing.

"We fairies that do run from the presence of the sun

We follow darkness like a dream, like a dream"

Ms. Tebbit began to sing some more loo's and Magnus joined it.

* * *

Alec sat in the hallway waiting for soccer practice, already finished with his audition. He felt like he did a somewhat decent job. He leaned up against the glass doors that led to the gym and closed his eyes. He could kind of hear an audition going on and wondered who was auditioning. All of the soccer boys had so that left a couple of other boys as well as Magnus. The second Magnus's name passed through Alec's brain, his eyes flew open flashing back to that morning. He had walked in on Magnus dancing like he had never seen anyone dance. It was so different and sexual…

His train of thought was cut off abruptly when the voice in the gym louder and he recognized it instantly. It was Magnus singing and, just like this morning, his voice sounded beautiful. It hugged the words. Alec sat up straighter as did some of the other boys.

"Dude, who is that singing?" Jace asked, unaware that there were any boys at this school with any vocal talents.

Simon shrugged and turned up his iPod. Alec turned around, drawn in by the sound of Magnus's sweet voice. He peeked through the crack in the door and there stood Magnus…

…_and he was framed by two brilliant red curtains, standing proudly in his school blazer and skin tight, grey skinny jeans. His tie was loosened and his bangs were swept across his forehead. He held the paper with the lyrics with one hand and was singing loudly._

"_We fairies that do run from the presence of the sun_

_We follow darkness like a dream!"_

_His voice rose with the final word and the doors flew open. The boys in their soccer uniform strode into the gym in the same beat as the music. They began to sing the same two phrases over and over._

"_Be as thou was wont to be_

_See as thou was wont to see"_

_Suddenly Alec and Magnus were standing beside each other, eyes locked. Magnus grabbed Alec's hand and they turned to the stage. A giant tree grew out of the center, its branches reaching upwards. Ms. Tebbit appeared from behind it, a copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ in her hands. _

_The boys continued to sing in background_

"_Be as thou was wont to be_

_See as thou was wont to see"_

_Alec and Magnus walked forward as Ms. Tebbit walked to them, the other boys' voices motivating each step forward. It grew louder and more powerful as they drew closer. Magnus reached for the book and Alec rested his arm on Magnus's shoulder…_

…and Alec read the cast list, leaning some of his weight on the taller boy. "Looks like I'm one of the lovers."

Magnus's reply was cut off by Raphael, Simon, and Jace running forward to read the cast list.

Raphael read his part and frowned. He was a girl. "I'm not shaving," he remarked angrily.

"As least you aren't the jackass," Simon remarked, unhappy to be playing Bottom.

"At least the jackass doesn't have to wear a dress," Raphael responded.

Jace just smirked. "I'm not woman. It is because I reek of masculinity."

"No, but you do reek of something else," Simon retorted.

"At least I don't smell like ass," Jace responded ruffling Simon's hair before racing Raphael to the locker room.

"Hey!" Simon protested, chasing after the other two.

Magnus read his part. He was Puck. He had gotten the part he had wanted. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

"Good job boys. Awaken and empower what's within," Ms. Tebbit commented before gliding off to her classroom, leaving a silence behind.

"Nice pipes," Alec said breaking the silence. "I heard your audition."

"Thank you," Magnus replied with a smile. "I'm a good dancer too."

Alec blushed. "I know."

Magnus chuckled, trying to keep a brave face. "I hope you liked it. I'll see you Monday." He turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. If you're headed to the parking lot, I'll walk with you."  
"What about your brother?"

Alec shrugged and smiled. "He can walk. He'll need the exercise if he hopes to outshine Sebastian in drag."

* * *

Ragnor was excited. He had just bought the paint for his room and Magnus was going to spend the night and help him set up for the painting day tomorrow. Ragnor drove up to the school and saw Magnus and Alec talking. He raised an eyebrow as he turned off his car. Last he had heard from Magnus, interaction with Alec started and stopped with an offer to get him ice for his eye.

Alec put a hand on Magnus's shoulder as he said something, causing the taller boy's face to light up with a grin. A few more words were exchanged before the two private school boys bid each other farewell.

Ragnor was chuckling when Magnus walked over to where Ragnor was parked.

"What's so funny?" Magnus inquired, his voice colored with suspicion.

"Oh nothing, nothing. Just get in the car."

Magnus scowled and opened the door, tossing his backpack into the backseat.

"Careful, don't damage the leather!" Ragnor protested.

"If this is leather," Magnus began, sliding into his seat, "than I'm a crazy cat lady named Virginia."

Ragnor just rolled his eyes. "This is the appreciation I get for picking you up…" he half-muttered.

Magnus snorted. "I appreciate you plenty."

"Speaking of appreciating people, I saw you and Alexander _talking_." Ragnor shot the other boy an expectant look.

"And?"

"And you looked rather friendly."

"It was nothing."

"Well you say potato and I say hot gay sex."

"There is no way you can possibly change the pronunciation of potato to hot gay sex."

"I think you just missed the entire point of my last comment."

"No, I did not. I am choosing to ignore your implication."

"I'd be wounded if I didn't know how much you fancy Alec."

Magnus laughed. "Fancy? Are you suddenly British?"

"Shut up and let me drive. So I'm guessing you auditioned."

"Indeed I did audition. I got the part of Puck."

"She cast it in half of an hour? You must have kicked all their asses."

"I guess I did. It is a nice change for once, kicking theirs instead of them kicking mine."

Ragnor nodded. "Hey, you'll never guess what I bought." He popped in a CD and changed the song until he found one that he knew Magnus would enjoy. The opening music of _Government Hooker _filled the car. Magnus burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

* * *

**I'll try to have another chapter up by Friday!**


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